Rock and Tomi
by Cooray123
Summary: When Rock meets Tomi, things go beserk for him. Please R/R Forgot to add the credits, sorry *-* I also changed everyones personality's a bit, like Rock doesn't really like the duke...
1. Tomi

"Rock!" shouted a voice behind him. Rock turned his around, and saw Duke Red, his adoptive father. Rock had been on his way to his room.  
"Yes, sir?" said Rock, wondering what the duke was doing here. He was supposed to be at a meeting. But he knew better then to blurt out remarks like that.  
His whole life that he had been with the duke, he had been trained to ignore pain, hope, care and kindness alike. He had been pushed behind physical limits, taking punishments from the duke. His family had died 6 years ago, when he was 8. Now he was about 14, not remembering his parents, birth date or anything of the past. Though he was only 14, he was much stronger and experienced then people could imagine. He had a reputation of being the best shooter, crafty, and being merciless.  
The Duke was studying Rock. "Why are you late today?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.  
"I was on Back Alley Patrol, sir," Rock answered.  
"Okay," said the Duke like he didn't believe Rock.  
Rock, leader of the Marduks, turned around and started towards his bedroom. As soon as he entered his room, he sighed in relief. 'I don't think my ribs or my back are up to another beating,' thought Rock.  
He dressed in his nightclothes and slipped into his bed. His whole body was sore tired from getting hit by a few robots, getting shouted at by his father and walking all day with no food. Tomorrow he would get food.  
No food was a common punishment for Rock. Like whipping, hitting and being beaten, the Duke often used getting no food for the day.  
Or two.  
Or three.  
Or a week.  
But Rock didn't mind. Usually. No matter what, he didn't gain or lose weight. He was average in about everything but strength, fighting, intelligence and things that the duke had done to him.  
As Rock drifted into slumber, he remembered that he had to wake up early tomorrow morning for Zone B Patrol.  
"Shit," he cursed, and then he fell asleep.  
~*~  
Rock woke up at 4:00 in the morning. He quickly got dressed and prepared to leave. He made sure he had his handgun and sunglasses. He never liked to go somewhere without his gun and sunglasses.  
As soon as he was in Zone B, he noticed a robot straying from its work. He took out his handgun and aimed. When the robot turned around, he noticed it was holding a girl. The girl was sobbing.  
"Let go of me!" screamed the crying girl.  
The robot didn't notice Rock, and it slapped the girl.  
Rock fired the gun. The bullet found its target, and the robot dropped the girl. He ran over to the girl to see if she was okay.  
The girl had landed on her side and was getting up. She didn't wear a dress like most girls did. She wore casual black pants and a dark blue shirt. Rock wore black pants and a red shirt, like every Marduk.  
As he drew closer to the girl, he noticed that her arm slumped down to her side. It was broken.  
"Are you okay, miss?" questioned Rock, not caring about her. But it's was part of his duty to ask citizens this.  
The girl kept sobbing, and stuttered, "Yes." She was up and on her feet soon. She wiped away her tears, and smiled wryly at Rock. "Thank you."  
Rock stared at her through his sunglasses. "Whatever."  
He watched as the girl tried to walk, and noticed that her arm was dangling at her side. She winced in pain.  
Like she knew he saw watching, the girl turned around again and said, "Please come over to my house and have some lunch with me. I've been really lonely ever since my parents were killed by robots." She had a begging look in her eyes.  
Rock looked at her, and something inside of him told him to go. He followed as the girl led the way.  
"My name's Tomi, what's yours?"  
"Rock."  
She didn't gasped, curse or runaway like most people did. "Nice to meet ya, Rock."  
Rock nodded, not really liking Tomi's hyperness. As they continued, Tomi asked questions, and Rock gave small worded answers.  
~*~  
When they reached Tomi's house, Rock had grown used to Tomi's hyperness. He kind of liked it. He smiled to himself as he entered the house.  
"Atlas! I'm home!" Tomi called.  
Rock froze. 'Atlas? What's she doing with Atlas?' thought Rock. He pulled out his gun behind his back.  
Atlas came running into the run, and froze when he saw Rock. "What's he doing here?" Atlas asked after a long time of eerie silence.  
"I asked him to come for lunch. And on the way here, he made a sling for my arm I broke, when a robot tried to kidnap me," Tomi explained happily.  
"Do you know who he is? Or what he's done?" said Atlas in disbelief.  
Tomi looked at the ground. "Yes," she whispered. "I know, but he seems nice, unlike what Terrence said." Tomi looked up and straight into Atlas's eyes. "If you don't like him, then I'll leave. You're judging a person before you even get ta know them, and you're the one who taught me no to do that." Tomi could feel tears sliding down her cheeks.  
Rock relaxed a little and released the gun. He was still alert like he had been taught.  
Atlas stared at Tomi, then at Rock. He couldn't read Rock's face, which was expressionless. Tomi seemed to trust him, so Atlas sighed in defeat.  
"Fine," he said. Tomi whooped in joy. Rock kept looking at Atlas. "But then, he has to stay outta the way while I, um, cook." Atlas turned red in the face. Rock smiled crookedly, a little.  
Tomi then ran out of the house to go and see the doctor about her arm. Atlas and Rock avoided eye contact.  
As Atlas was cutting vegetables and Rock was sitting on the couch, they heard a gun shot. Atlas turned around and held up a pan with a hole through it. The gunshot had come from the window in front of him. 'It couldn't have been Rock,' thought Atlas. Rock quickly stood up and drew his gun.  
A Marduk walked in, gun raised. He didn't see Rock.  
"Put your hands up," the Marduk said carefully. Rock was better trained then this Marduk.  
Rock aimed the gun at the Marduk, thinking, 'What am I doing?' Atlas knew better then to look at Rock, so he slowly raised his hands.  
"That's it, ya piece o' shit," said the Marduk, smiling broadly. 


	2. Questions

Psst!  
Rock shot the gun. It hit the Marduk right in the chest, and the Marduk collapsed onto the ground with a thud.  
Atlas stared at Rock, not believing what he had just saw. His enemy had just saved his life, or was he his enemy?  
Rock stared at Atlas, and their eyes locked for a minute. Then Rock went over to the dead Marduk and muttered, "We better hide this guy before Tomi comes."  
Both Rock and Atlas worked together to throw the man into the garbage dump, under the metal parts of shot-down robots.  
When they returned, Rock cleaned away the blood as Atlas continued cooking.  
"So, how's it like, living with Red?" asked Atlas.  
Rock shrugged. "I dunna. It's okay, I guess." Rock's voice drifted off.  
Atlas noticed, and quickly changed the subject.  
"Have you ever seen a picture of Hawaii, or been there?" he asked. Rock shook his head, and Atlas pulled out a picture of Hawaii. "Look's peaceful, don't it?"  
Rock nodded. Atlas was curious about Rock's life with the Duke, and couldn't resist.  
"How'd you learn to shoot a gun?" asked Atlas, resuming his cooking.  
"From Duke Red," replied Rock.  
Atlas stopped what he was doing. He turned to Rock, and asked, "Is he really your father, like people say?"  
Rock was silent for a moment. "No. Adoptive father."  
"Then your parents were killed?"  
"Yeah, in the war 6 years ago."  
"Same here. How old are you?" Atlas drew nearer towards Rock, thinking that there was a chance that people could have been wrong about him.  
"14."  
"I'm 19. You look a lot older, kid."  
"Don't call me that," Rock said stiffly.  
"Sorry," apologized Atlas. "Has Duke Red, um, trained you or anything?"  
"Yeah."  
"Hard?"  
"Yeah."  
Atlas stared at him. "Has he taught you stuff about fighting tactics?"  
No reply came. "I don't wanna talk about this."  
"I want the truth, kid."  
"Don't call me that!" Rock turned and glared at Atlas through his sunglasses. He sighed. "Yeah."  
Atlas thought he had heard a sad tone in Rock's voice, but decided against it. He resumed his cooking, and Rock got up to help. They were silent for a while, and when Atlas dropped a pan of hot soup on his foot, he burst out laughing.  
Rock soon joined in, but lightly. Soon, Tomi skipped into the house, and they set up the table and ate.  
Later, Tomi walked with Rock to Duke Red's mansion.  
"I'll come and see you at Zone B tomorrow, okay?" Tomi said.  
"Okay," mumbled Rock.  
"Bye!" Tomi called, and ran off skipping.  
Rock turned around and entered the mansion as soon as Tomi was out of site. Duke Red was waiting for him at the top of the stairs, blocking his way to his bedroom.  
~*~ 


	3. Punishment

"Where were you?" questioned the Duke as Rock stood at attention. He circled Rock around a few times. Rock was silent.  
If Duke Red found out he had been at the house of the boy who the duke despised, then he was surly dead. The Duke didn't really like Atlas.  
When Rock hadn't answered for some time, the Duke slapped him in the face. "I noticed that you have been slacking off your patrol duties. You imbecile!" The Duke kicked Rock in the shins, and then shoved him onto the ground. He started kicking Rock in the ribs with his metal-tipped shoes. Nobody was in the main hall.  
Rock gritted his teeth in pain. When the Duke stopped, he tried to get up. Duke Red ordered his to follow. As Rock walked down a cellar with the Duke, he clenched his fists in agony. He couldn't feel his ribs.  
As Duke Red closed the cellar door, he and Rock were engulfed into darkness except for the very dim light bulb above them. The cellar was pretty large, about as large as 5 ordinary classrooms.  
The Duke suddenly turned around and slapped Rock in the face. Then he slapped Rock again with the back of his hand. Rock didn't flinch. "Ignorant boy!" shouted the Duke. "How many times have I told you not to wander around the city after your duties. You were to come straight back here. But no, you went to follow some fool girl~"  
"She isn't a fool," Rock heard himself muttered.  
The Duke was stunned silent for he had taught Rock not to talk back, yet he just had. He kicked Rock in the ribs, and Rock felt at least 3 ribs breaking. He gasped in pain. The Duke then shouted out in anger and reached the shelf on his side for something.  
He found what he was looking for, and raised it above his head. Rock saw a metal bat, then felt pain searing through his right shoulder. He collapsed and shouted out in pain. He quickly cut of the cry by biting his bottom lip.  
The Duke hit him in the back a couple of times, then ordered him to get up. When Rock didn't, he kicked Rock in the ribs. Rock cried out in agony, which the Duke cut short by hitting him in the back with the metal bat.  
As Rock scrambled to get up, the Duke put away the bat.  
"Attention!" barked the Duke.  
Rock quickly stood straight and faced the Duke.  
"I don't want you to slack off tomorrow, or else!" Duke Red said.  
"Yes sir," Rock replied. He held back all the pain, or tried to. He still couldn't feel his broken ribs, or his right shoulder.  
"Good. Now you may leave." With that, the Duke walked out of the cellar. Rock dusted himself, and winced as he accidentally touched his broken ribs.  
He then walked out of the cellar like nothing happened, and walked up to his room.  
~*~  
Tomi ran over to Rock, who was hunched over and sitting against the wall. She was about to scare him, when she noticed that he was gasping for breath.  
"R-Rock? Are you alright?" Tomi drew closer to him.  
Rock jerked his head up, and saw Tomi. He tried to stand up, but the pain in his ribs stopped him.  
Tomi crouched down beside him and reached out her hand towards his ribs.  
"N-No, I-I'm alright," breathed Rock. He closed his eyes and gasped for breath.  
Tomi grew worried. "Rock~"  
"I'm alright, kay?"  
She sighed. "I'll be right back." She ran off.  
Rock heaved a sigh. He thought that she wasn't going to come back, but she did. With help, too. Tomi had brought Atlas with her. Atlas hurriedly and carefully picked him up and carried him to his house.  
~*~  
  
As Rock woke, he felt a pain sear through his body, from his ribs. He bit his lip as it happened.  
Tomi ran over to him.  
"Don't move," Tomi ordered.  
Rock did as he was told, as Tomi checked the boneset that she and Atlas had placed on his ribs.  
"A few more hours, and it should feel better," Tomi said. Then she looked at Rock straight in the eye. "Did Duke Red do this?"  
Rock was quiet for a moment. "Yeah."  
Tomi's eyes got wide. "Why? What did you do?"  
"I was slacking in my patrol duties," he said. He didn't tell her about the other half. The part about how he was in Tomi and Atlas's house.  
"So what?" Atlas scoffed in disbelief. "Everyone does!" 


	4. Shadow

~Sorry about rushing this story! Most my reviews said I was rushing, so I'm sorry! *-* Oh, and thanx for the reviews. I only got 1 bad one, but the rest were super. Well, here's the next chapter.~  
  
'So what! Everyone does!'  
Atlas's words rang out in Rock's head. He was in Atlas's bed, while everyone was cooking. "I'm not like everybody else," he muttered to himself.  
The door opened quietly, but Rock heard it. He looked up and saw Tomi. She was wearing a sky blue dress that stopped at her ankles, and had tied her hair into a ponytail with a white ribbon. Her white ankle socks and light blue sandals.  
"Oh, you're awake!" Tomi said. She smiled warmly as Rock felt himself blush. She gasped as she saw Rock's icy blue eyes for the first time. "You're eyes are so nice, why'd ya wear sunglasses?" Rock went even redder. He swallowed hard. Tomi switched the subject. "You hungry?"  
"Oh, um, ah, y-yeah," said Rock, looking down in embarrassment.  
Tomi plopped down onto the bed next to Rock. Rock stiffened, and then relaxed a little as Tomi checked his ribs.  
He tried to push her hands away from his ribs, saying, "I'm alright. I'm okay. Don't worry, seriously." But Tomi ignored him and checked anyway.  
  
While Tomi examined his ribs, Rock looked at his surroundings. A window was on his right, with red curtains. The door was also on his right, farther away from the bed then the window was. On his left was a closet and a desk. A very messy desk at that. Above him was a portrait of a flower field, with tons and tons of different flowers. Rock wasn't interested in anything but the desk.  
"All done, and all right!" Tomi said, breaking into Rock's thoughts.  
"Oh," Rock jerked his head away from the desk, which he had been leaning towards. "How long have I been here?" he asked.  
Tomi thought about it for a minute. "Let's see, um, about a week. Why?"  
"Shit," whispered Rock, pulling the covers off him and going for the door. A pang of pain shot through his body. Tomi caught up with him, and helped him outside to the living room. She set him down on a couch.  
"You're in no condition ta walk, ya know," she lectured.  
Rock smiled crookedly a little.  
"Oh, so the Marduk is up, eh?" they heard a voice.  
Tomi and Rock turned theirs heads towards Atlas. "Duke Red," Rock murmured.  
"So that's what you were worried 'bout?" Tomi said in disbelief. She gave out an exasperated sigh. "Don't worry, we got things covered, alright?"  
Rock raised an eyebrow.  
"Ya ain't wearing your sunglasses," chuckled Atlas. "Anyway, the duke left for Europe to see a colleague. Or some'em like that."  
Rock nodded. He sighed in relief.  
All of a sudden, they heard a burning sound. "Ah! My octopus is burning!" Atlas shouted.  
Tomi giggled as Atlas ran into the kitchen.  
"Hey, that ain't funny!" shouted Atlas behind his back as he rushed out of site.  
When he was out of earshot, Tomi turned to Rock, still giggling. "I hoped that Atlas would forget."  
"You knew?" Rock said in surprise.  
"Yeah."  
"Don't you get, like, um." Rock didn't know how to say it.  
Tomi raised an eyebrow. "Oh, punished. No."  
"Lucky. But why didn't ya tell they were burning?"  
"I hate octopus!" Tomi made a face.  
"I heard that!" shouted her older brother.  
Tomi covered her mouth, and started laughing. Rock soon joined, and then they heard Atlas. Tomi ran into her room, and soon was redressed.  
She was in white caprice and a gray shirt. "I hate dresses," she explained to Rock. Rock nodded slowly. "Let's go for a walk. It's kinda smoky in here."  
"Kay, but wait a minute, let me go get my sunglasses."  
"They're on the desk in Atlas's room!" called Tomi as Rock hustled into the direction Tomi had pointed. He found the sunglasses, and put them on.  
A feeling inside him told him to look at the papers scattered over the desk, but he didn't. He didn't want to keep Tomi waiting.  
In mid step, he stopped all of a sudden. Someone was watching him. 'No,' he thought. 'I must be dreaming.' He walked out of the room and caught up with Tomi at the front door.  
"Ready?" Tomi asked.  
"Yeah." Then they headed out into the snow, while dusk was falling. They hadn't seen the shadow that had been watching them inside and outside the house.  
  
~Am I rushing still? If I am, please tell me. I hope you like it so far. It was kinda a dull chapter, so please don't say anything bad about it. Thanx.~ 


	5. Fire

As they strolled around the National Park together, Rock felt, well…happy. For the first time ever, since he had moved in with the Duke, he was actually happy. The feeling was awkward, but it felt good.  
He also had a feeling someone was following them. He swirled around, gun out, and found himself face to face with a Marduk.  
The Marduk also had a gun, which was pointed straight at Tomi.  
Rock set his jaw. "Put the gun down, and I won't kill you."  
"Shoot me, and I'll kill the girl," the Marduk replied. "I thought you were the boss o' us, but the duke ain't so pleased with ye." The Marduk gave a toothy grin, which was missing at least 4 teeth and had a stinky stench.  
Rock shot the gun, and the Marduk shot the gun as soon as Rock pulled the trigger. Tomi closed her eyes. She waited she a piercing pain to come, but it didn't. Also, she heard another gun trigger it's bullet.  
She slowly opened her eyes, and saw the Marduk dead.  
"W-What happened, Rock?" she asked, startled.  
"I shot his gun instead of him, and then he tried to shoot, but the bullet wouldn't come out, even though you heard the shot. Then I shot him the second time."  
"Rock," breathed Tomi. "I-Is he d-dead?"  
Rock looked at the man on the ground. "No, he'll live. He better get outta here…Oh, shit." He grabbed Tomi's hand and started running.  
"R-Rock, what's the matter?"  
"They've been trailing us, all along, they've been trailing us. Shit," he cursed. He ran faster.  
Tomi noticed that they were heading towards her house.  
"Why are we going back to my house?"  
"Your brother may be in trouble," Rock said through clenched teeth. They passed a robot out of its area, which Rock shot down while running. "Hurry."  
Tomi tried to run harder, but it was hard to run when junk was all over the floor. A pop can rolled into view, but something was wrong with it. Some lumpy thing was taped onto it.  
"Rock, there's a bomb!" Tomi shouted. She pulled Rock swiftly into an alleyway, and continued running to her house on a different route. A few seconds later, they heard an explosion behind them.  
"Shit, this is all my fault. My father wants~"  
"He's not your father," Tomi stated.  
"Whatever. He just wants me dead," Rock muttered, still running.  
"I'm outta breath," Tomi panted.  
"We're almost there," Rock assured her. They turned a corner, then another and another.  
"Rock, he's not dead, is he?" Tomi asked through gasps. Tears started falling out of her eyes. She felt horrible. Her brother dying while she couldn't do anything. But why was Rock trying so hard to save someone that only helped him out? She had learned long ago that he wasn't the type of person that people said he was.  
Then why?  
"Rock, why are you going against the duke's order?" Tomi asked, still panting.  
"I'm not a Marduk anymore, nor his stepson," he breathed. Tomi's house loomed into view. The sounds of gunshots were everywhere.  
The house was on fire, and Atlas was up in the attic, coughing, leaning against the window, blood dripping from his chest. 


	6. Hospital

They reached the hospital in no time. As they entered, people started staring at them. Some ran outside as fast as they could. Others whispered to each other, pointing to Rock.  
Rock ignored them and walked up to the front counter.  
"This guy's hurt. He needs help," Rock breathed through clenched teeth. He shifted his load.  
Tomi stared at the front counter lady, who seemed like she wanted to run away. 'Why is everyone so afraid of Rock?' she thought.  
"Please wait a moment. Others are in line, sir," the lady said in a shaky voice. She pointed to a long line of people who didn't look very hurt.  
Rock stared at the line, and then he looked back at the lady. "Are any of them badly injured?" Rock asked sarcastically.  
"Um, I don't see any sign of blood, if that's what you mean, sir," the lady said, trembling.  
"Yeah, that is what I mean," Rock answered. "So, does this guy on my back look injured?"  
"Yes sir," said the lady.  
"Exactly. So get me a doctor, and hurry up!" Rock barked.  
The scared lady jumped out of her chair and ran as fast as her chubby legs could carry her, to the doctor's office.  
Tomi looked around her at the people who were now talking very softly. Suddenly, three men stood up and walked over to Rock as he set Atlas in a stretcher that a nurse and a doctor brought.  
"Hey, bud! Who do you think you are, handling Atlas like that? You're probably the guy who did it!" one of the men shouted.  
Everyone in the hospital grew quiet to listen. One of the other men cracked his knuckles.  
Tomi looked at the three men. One had green hair; another had black, and the last the one brown. She gasped very loudly.  
"Lionel? Michael? Sean?" Tomi stared at the three burly looking men. "What are you guys doing here?"  
"Tomi?" Lionel stared at her. "What are you doing with that Marduk? That dirty scum?"  
"He's not a scum," Tomi said firmly.  
"Are you okay?" Sean asked wide-eyed.  
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you very much. Rock saved Atlas, you idiots!" Tomi shouted.  
"What?" Everyone in the hospital was now staring wide-eyed.  
Rock's face didn't change, like usual.  
"You're lying!" shouted Michael. He clenched his fists and hurled himself at Rock. Rock dodged the blow easily.  
"Are they friends of Atlas?" Rock asked, blocking another blow from Sean.  
"Um, yeah," Tomi said uneasily.  
"Hem," said a voice pretty loudly. Everyone looked away from the fight and saw the head doctor. The three men stopped fighting. "I do not know what this is about, but this is a hospital, where we heal your wounds, not give you them." A few peopled chuckled nervously. "Anyways, who was the person who brought the wounded man in?"  
Tomi pointed to Rock and Rock pointed to Tomi.  
"You carried him," Tomi said.  
"You're the one who, um, is his brother," Rock said uneasily.  
"So?"  
"So?"  
The doctor shook his head. "Alright you two. Both of you follow me." He motioned for them to follow.  
"Wait doctor!" shouted Sean.  
"Hm?"  
"We're his friends, and that Marduk~"  
  
"I don't care what he is, this is a hospital," the doctor said firmly.  
"Alright doc. Your hospital, your trouble. He's the one who gave the guy the wounds," Michael said.  
"No, he isn't!" Tomi argued.  
The doctor raised his hands. "Just come in."  
The five followed the doctor to the room.  
"He's unconscious right now, we bandaged his wounds as best as we could. You'll have to be quiet. I am not responsible for anything that happens between the five of you, so don't include me."  
"Yessir!" barked the three men. Tomi stared at Atlas.  
Tubes were coming out of his chest, back, arms, legs and neck.  
"Atlas," she whispered in despair. Tears formed in her eyes, and she turned and ran straight into Rock. She hugged him as tight as she could, as if her life depended on him. 


End file.
